Nigel Cunningham
An English war hero that has grown sickened with the way the Dominion has gone and decided to strike out on his own joining a group of frontiersmen who settled within the Salt Lands and formed their own republic when the Dominion attempted to assert control over them Nigel led the frontiersmen on a war to keep their independence. Biography Early Years Nigel was born to Edward and Whielma Cunningham in the small town of New Cumberland, one of the many outlying suburbs of the city of Tampico. Raised on his parents farm he spent most of his days working in the fields, tilling the soil and herding the small herd of brahmin they kept on the ranch. However Nigel never cared for this life and when his grandfather passed and gave him his old Double Rifle, Nigel was overwhelmed with joy. From that day forward he would spend hunting in the local wilds and for target practicing, he soon became such an able shot that he began to use hunting as a means to support himself and his family as he matured. However the allure of serving in the famed Provisional Defense Force grew on him as he turned 17 and it was at that age that he decided to leave the family farm and sign up for the PDF. Charge of the Light Brigade part 2 While with the PDF Nigel went through the usual training regimen until he was finally ready for assignment to a unit. It was decided that he would become part of the Grenadiers regiment. There he was placed into 1st platoon, Able Company. For months afterwards he and the other members of his regiment enjoyed being parade ground troops, marching in parades, getting shown off and getting all the ladies they could possibly want. Then came the day when its was their turn to serve on the line as the Royal Protectorate tried to push its way into the Saltlands to expand its grip on the region. They were placed near a place known as Tombstone Hill, for its capability to put soldiers in an early grave. However this didn't daunt the tough soldiers of Able Company and were determined to prove themselves to their commanders as able combat troops. And on June 16th they were given that chance. Able Company was one of many units listed to charge Tombstone Hill and knock the Ganadero defenders off it in order to continue to drive the Ganadero forces back. Able company along with the other assault units lined up along the wall of their trench work at 5:00am on June 16 and five minutes later their commanders blew their whistles sending everyone and their gear over the top and charging into the great open area between the hill and PDF lines. The Ganaderos up on the hill seeing the charging troops opened up with artillery, rifle and machine gun fire. The PDF troops began to be cut down in huge swaths as Grenadiers, Rangers, Fusiliers and local conscripts all charged the hill, yet despite the bombardment of howitzer rounds and the never ending chatter of rifle and machine gun fire the troops charged forward. Nigel mixed among a unit of Sappers carrying flamethrowers and plastic explosives pounded up the side of the hill and as he neared the trench works of the Ganaderos he swung his L85 around hosing a group of Ganaderos with bullets, as he moved through the trenches he took out several machine gun crews as they continued to fire upon the charging PDF troops. Meanwhile the Sappers bathed the trenchlines in flames as they went to work clearing the trenches of their defenders. Yet unbeknownst to the charging troops was that the commanders back in friendly trenches thought that the attack had failed and thus hadn't sent forward the reserve units, the weakened assault troops were fighting their way through the hill's defenses all on their own. Nigel himself ran along the trenchline helping groups of PDF troops gain footholds in the line and clear out the defenders from the bunkers and other positions. But as he went he couldn't for the life of him find the other members of his squad and it wasn't until later that he found out that his whole company had been wiped out by the fighting. At 12:00pm the next wave of PDF troops went over the top and arrived on the hill with the rest of the PDF troops fighting further into the Ganadero defenses. The troops mostly made up of native Highlanders were shocked by the progress made by the troops trapped on the hill, as individual groups of troops fought their way onto the flanks of the Ganadero defenses and further into the rear as they rushed the Ganaderos trying to hold the line. As they set off to help these tired groups of soldiers they were shocked by the carnage in the trenches as it was littered with bullet riddled corpses, burned bodies. In some places there were corpses in grotesque positions, clearly where squads of soldiers had made their last stands. However it was when they found Nigel that they were truly awed, he stood in the trenchline his L85 in hand with steam comming off the barrel. Surrounding him were bodies of at least a dozen Ganadero soldiers all of whom appeared to have either been shot, stabbed or killed in some other means. They littered the trenches and as they approached Nigel he only uttered to them what had taken so long. The Highlnaders signaled that they had taken the hill and the PDF moved onto the hill leaving the bodies to be buried by the grave digger detachments. However Nigel's ordeal wasn't up yet. Nigel was along with most of his other first wave assault units put back on the line with Nigel being formed into a platoon of Yeomanry and were prepared to make another assault on the Ganadero's secondary line of defense. They sat in the trenches as artillery rounds rained in around them and as the steel rain ended they prepared to once again go over the top. When the whistle blew Nigel was charging over the ramparts and out into the no-man's land. As the PDF troops charged the Ganadero lines bullets, mortar and howitzer rounds rained around them, mines exploded underfoot and airburst rockets exploded over head. The PDF troops were cut down in swaths and soon it was only Nigel and a half dozen others still standing in the field. A burst of machine gun fire cut down Nigel as he ran. He awoke in a field hospital, a surgeon at his side and an officer in front of him. Nigel was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions during the charge of Tombstone Hill and for leading the charge when all others were gone or dead. He was discharged from the PDF with full honors and promptly began to wander the wastes eventually ending up in the company of Norman Herrick and the Baja Killers. The Baja Killers It wasn't long after he left the PDF that Nigel was already off wandering the wastes. His parents had pleaded with him to settle down and raise a family but that wasn't Nigel's style that and the horrible effects of his time in the Military would surely impede any real relationships he could form. So he turned in his uniform and rifle, then headed off into the wasteland looking for more adventure and work.he found little in the way of work in the Saltlands, and only ghost stories and nuts in the mountains of The Highlands. As he traversed the wastes he eventually left the Tamaulipas wasteland and began to see the less tamed regions of Mexico, finally after much wandering on the wastes he came upon the region of Baja California. There he met a man by the name of Norman Herrick, lookign for volunteers for a scalp huntng party he was putting together to hunt down a group of filthy tribals in the lower Baja Peninsula. Nigel barely having a cent to his name quickly agreed. he signed himself up for the group and before anyone could guess they were off onto their wild adventures into the Baja Peninsula. The gun battle at Jenkinston gave Nigel his first taste in combat since his days as a soldier and gave him a chance to try out his new Double Rifle, having bought it using the remaining caps he had Nigel was well armed with for the threats they were to face in the Peninsula. However what they were to go up against were no brutal tribals, fierce warriors or soldiers of any kind, they were women, children and the elderly all of whom had been working with an enemy of Norman, and he was seeking revenge for some wrong done unto him. Nigel was thoroughly disgusted by the pure violence that they commited and when they finally found the man Norman was looking for he couldn't help but feel that all the killing they had commited was all in vain for one man. However upon the man's capture and after they had hauled him up to Cali for his arrest the command of the group was handed over to Nigel after Norman left to pursue other goals. Not wanting the ravenous group of killers to continue (this opinion was held by most of the Killers) Nigel promplty disbanded the group, dismantling it and everyone going their separate ways. Nigel no longer wanting to stay in the area where he had commited such ghastly acts he left back for his home in the Dominion. On the Frontier It was while Nigel was off galavanting in Baja California that the stories of his feats trickled back to the Britannia Ridge. The commanders were astounded by what they heard even if only half the stories were true and thus put Nigel up for a commendation, the news spread about the PDF of Nigel's achievements that they eventually reached the Admiral St. Clair himself who along with the Prime Minister and several members of Parliament opted to declare him a Viscount of the Protectorate. As Nigel returned to Tampico he was almost immediately taken by the PDF to meet St. Clair who promptly declared him Lord Viscount of the St. George. A title that albeit had his friends and famiy cheering for joy had Nigel feeling empty on the inside. The world he had once called home now seemed alien and strange as the trauma of his actions in Baja began to set in. Eventually he could no longer take the easy going life on the small cottage he'd been awarded by the Parliament and decided to sign on with a group of settlers that was headed west into The Saltlands. The party of settlers numbered 80 people and were under the nominal leadership of Lieutenant Daniel McDowell. Young Daniel was a sharp and intelligent young officer who was all too prepared to lead his small party to setup a town in what was to become the Royal colony of Kent-Upington however a week prior to when they were set to leave he came down with a case of yellow fever and promptly was forced to stay back. Without a proper leader the whole party seemed on the verge of falling apart, when Nigel stepped up to the plate and offered to lead the party into the Saltlands. The offer was accepted and a week later the party of 80 people set off in wagons and on horse back for the location of their new colony. The party had brought with them several bags of corn seed, 12 brahmin and 3 of the exotic Longhorns from up north along with some fire arms to help ward off the hostile tribals that plagued the Saltlands and any frontier settlements. They passed through the ruins of the Independent State of York and through the growing Union Free State, passed through the despotic English Free State and through the agrarian Cowboy-Vaquero Compact. Finally they arrived at their destination and began to setup their colony. It took three days of hard work and used up most of their building materials but the small town of Kent was completed. The town began to settle in and go about their lives, with Nigel at the head of their town. Their orders were that once they had setup their colony that a runner should be sent back to the Protectorate letting the government know so that PDF troops could be sent out to garrison the town, this part of the orders Nigel disagreed with. He called a meeting of the town in their small Catholic church where he promptly asked if anyone wished to follow through with the order and align themselves with the Protectorate. All but three of the townsfolk said no. With that the small town of Kent cut all ties with their former colonial masters and gave birth to one of the newest Ganadero Republics. Yet those three townspeople weren't happy about the sudden abandonment of their homeland and nationality and thus decided to send two of their number back to the Protectorate to get support to crush the rebellious sentiment within the town. Three weeks later those two sent arrived in the Protectorate and reported the situation in Kent. The Parliament and Prime Minister unwilling to let another colony slip through their fingers dispatched a detachment of 30 Fusiliers, led by Lieutenant Daniel McDowell. Three weeks later the Fusiliers arrived in the area of Kent and sent a squad of men forward with Lieutenant McDowell under the flag of truce. He offered full amnesty for the town if they would all sign forms declaring their loyalty to the Protectorate and the Parliament. However the townsfolk wouldn't budge without their leader who was currently in the Cowboy-Vaquero Compact trying to track down some lumber. Angered by their refusal Lieutenant McDowell ordered his collected troops to take the town by force, to their suprise the town fought back. The Fusiliers approached the town and soon began to take sniper fire and soon this was joined by the crescendo of small arms fire as the Fusiliers began to get into a skirmish with the townsfolk. Pretty soon the whole town was echoing with the crack of rifle and assualt rifle fire as the Fusiliers advanced on the town. Three hours later the crackle of gunfire had died down and thick black pillars of smoke rose above the town as homes set alight by the fighting burned out. Satisfied that the fighting had taken the salt out of the townsfolk, Lieutenant McDowell declared martial law, doused the fires and organized the town into cleaning parties to start rebuilding homes and clean up the corpses strewn about the town. In all the fight had cost the town 12 people to the Fusiliers 2. Meanwhile Nigel along with the three men he had brought with him were returning to the town with a shipment of lumber they had purchased in the Cowboy-Vaquero Compact when they spotted the pillars of smoke rising from the town. They stopped a few hundred yards back and Nigel went up to take a look at the town. What he saw was Fusiliers patrolling the burned out streets and corpses of his people strewn about the town, he became enraged and returned to the wagon. He and the two other men promptly left the area to head back to the Compact where they took refuge in a small inn. Nigel determined to avenge his fallen town, declared that they would raise an army and retake the town themselves. The two others, grief stricken over the loss of their families, agreed. For the next two days Nigel and the two men would go about the Compact looking for every cut throat mercenary, hired gun and anyone with a bone to pick with the Protectorate to join their army. What they never knew was the PDF's and the Protectorate's reaction the attack on Kent. They were enraged the Lieutenant had gone well beyond what he'd been ordered to do and the death of British citizens (especially white, English speaking citizens) was labelled as a war crime. A special detachment of Rangers from Rodney's Rangers were dispatched to apprehend the Lieutenant and have him court martialed. Yet Nigel didn't know of this and as he and his two men met to show off the men they had collected, what they had gained wasn't impressive. In all they had tracked down a total of 13 men and women willing to fight the PDF forces. None of them were armed with anything more than a shotgun or pistol, they could hardly shoot straight and at least two were jet addicts. However this didn't discourage Nigel, he toom this collected group and led them out into the boondocks where they trained mercilessly, honing their aim, getting them physically fit and removing any sort of dependence on drugs. After four weeks of hard training the small group of guerillas were ready to take on the PDF. Their first action came only two days later, they had been scouting the area around the town when one of them reported a group of PDF troops moving along the road towards the town. Their distinctive camoflagued uniforms and helmets gave them away as they moved about the road. Nigel quickly gathered the group and took up positions along the sides of the road, in the tall grass that surrounded it. Taking out his Webley Revolver he took aim at the lead man, a Native officer and fired hitting the man squarely in the neck. The whole air rippled as weapons of all sorts fired on the advancing soldiers killing them. The fight had hardly lasted a minute with the Fusiliers not even getting off a shot back at their attackers. The Guerillas ran forward and collected the weapons and ammo from the fallen PDF troops and quickly made themselves scarce. What they could've never known was that the men they had just killed were actually on their way to arrest Lieutenant McDowell. Their attack on the convoy of troops had just ignited a powder keg as the PDF reacted by deploying a company of troops to reinforce the troops currently in Kent. Meanwhile Lieutenant McDowell now fully disillusioned by his actions ran off into the wilds of The Saltlands, never to be seen or heard from again and leaving his men leaderless. Now under the command of a lowly First Sergeant the troops trapped in Kent waited to face the wrath of the people they had wronged while awaiting for reinforcements. Los Ganaderos Nigel and his tiny group of guerrillas closed in on Kent, having decided on a name they decided that they would call themselves the Patriotic Front. As they sat looking into the town, Nigel got down to planning their strategy for retaking the town. The group would split up into teams of two and would harass the Fusiliers in town with sniper fire, widdling them down to a size that they could deal with in a frontal attack. They all agreed to this idea and the next morning they all went their separate way. Nigel himself was teamed up with a young woman named Susan Bane. A young Ganadero girl whose family had been killed in the Independent State of York|Independent State of York Civil War, she had joined up with the group and had been impressed by young Nigel's skills in combat so naturally she felt safe with him. Nigel led her through the underbrush surrounding Kent and when he got a clear line of sight he took aim with his powerful Double Rifle and sent two Fusiliers home in pine boxes. This process continued for another two weeks as he and Susan moved about the scrub land surrounding Kent. During this time he and Susan became close, very close and by the time the two weeks were over they had a definite love for one another. When Nigel and Susan met up with the rest of their comrades they each named the number of men they had cut down and Nigel came out on top with six kills to his name. A day later they were preparing for the final liberation of Kent, the remaining Fusiliers had taken to staying in doors rather than risk the dangers of the outside world where invisible sniper picked you off one at a time. Nigel led off the charge, as they charged across the field they expected to be met by rifle and machine gun fire instead they were met by silence. Once in the town they encountered the PDF, cooped up in their homes the Fusiliers blazed away with their assault rifles at Nigel and his men but all to no avail. The homes that the Fusiliers had placed themselves in were quickly surrounded and cleared using grenades and gunfire. When the town had finally been cleared the guerrillas had lost three men and had killed twelve. The remaining Fusiliers either escaped out of town or surrendered to Nigel and his men. However seeing that the Fusiliers having not been resupplied in days were starving, they were given food and water then placed under guard while Nigel went to inspect the town. The town itself was a mess, several buildings had been burned out, while others had clearly been raided by the Fusiliers. There were bloated and rotting corpses spread about the street and the smell of death hung in the air. However surprisingly when Nigel checked on the townsfolk he found many of them to be well fed, and reasonably healthy despite the conditions of the town. This turned out to be due to the fact that the Fusiliers wouldn't take food from the civilians on account that it went against their rules of engagement. This surprising feat of discipline gave Nigel a great respect for the men they had just captured, thus on an act of mercy he let them go. They promptly left down the road, back towards friendlier lands where they weren't constantly under fire. However the fighting in Kent was not over, still heading for them was a column of elite Guards and Highlanders. With only a force of seven men and women left and a town full of women and children to protect Nigel began to look at his options and those he had weren't good. The Frontier War Nigel had to think fast to concote the plan to take on a whole column of PDF troops with only severn people but the idea quickly came together for him. He would position several of his men (four in total) along the road to ambush and harass the PDF troops as they marched, while he and the rest setup the actual ambush further down the road. Using landmines, explosives and well sighted lines of fire Nigel and his men waited. All the way up the road for a good three hours Nigel and the men waiting in the ambush sat and listened as shot rang out and explosions ripped through the air, this continued until the breathless and tired members of his team arrived at his position. The news they bore was grim, they reported that the PDF force was far larger then they had first expected and they had lost two of their members in the firefights with the PDF troops. Now down to five men Nigel sat and waited for the column of PDF troops to appear in their lines of sight. Slowly but surely the Fusiliers and Highlanders began to appear, the first of them moved in a thin skirmish line spread out along both sides of the road. Next came the rest of the colmun, moving along the sides of the road. The damage from the various ambushes they had encountered was clear, a few soldiers walked with a hobble, others had bloody bandages covering themselves and all of them had dirt and soot covering their faces. Nigel and his men waited until they were well within the outer layer of explosives they had wired, having daisy chained a string of mines together they sat and watched quietly as the skirmish line slowly passed over the buried mines and then half of the cautiously moving column. Nigel triggered the mines, sending several of the Fusiliers up in great geisers of dirt and body parts lifted them into the air. The guerillas opened up on the advancing Fusiliers and quickly their hail of bullets claimed the lives of five advancing Fusiliers, sending the rest of their comrades to the ground. In a minute the whole area seemed to be filled with the crackle of gunfire and cries of the wounded. It quickly became clear to Nigel that he and his small group wouldn't be able to hold their positions and thus he called to his comrades to fall back, to his dismay only four rose from cover to follow him. At their second position they continued to hold back the PDF as it continued to advance down the road towards Kent. The Fusiliers and Highlanders now spurred on by their commanders began to aggressivley attack the guerilla's positions, firing his Double Rifle as quick as he could Nigel quickly killed four separate Fusiliers. However their advance continued, now seeming to ignore their losses the PDF troops quickly closed the gap with the guerillas and were on top of them before anything could be said. The guerillas now down to two men plus Nigel, fought the hordes of charging troops as best they could but their numbers were simply too many and they were quickly overwhelmed. Nigel and Susan were the sole survivors from the Patriotic Front, they were kneeled down by the PDF troops. Looking over the field they could see the dozens of bodies that were strewn about, they had killed many of the PDF but not enough to stop their advance on Kent. A squad of Fusiliers lined up and took aim at Nigel and Susan, an officer called for them to take aim, and fi- There was a great shouting from behind them, followed by the rattle of a machine gun that mowed down their would be firing squad. It was an old friend from the past, Rebecca "Shotgun" Taylor. Having heard about her old friend's current occupation as a leader of guerillas she dissolved to go join himand to bring her three three mercenaries along as well. Rebecca and her two men (tweedle dee and tweedle dum) road down on Nigel and Susan, firing from their horses as they went. They snatched the three up off the ground and took off towards the hills. Nigel, more concerned about the saftey of Kent asked her to turn towards the town and reluctantly Rebecca agreed. There Nigel was saddened to see the Union jack raised above the town, they turned and headed off towards Upington. Upington was Kent's sister town and like Kent had been involved in the revolt against Protectorate rule. There they found a massed amount of volunteers and even a somewhat organized militia ready to take on the PDF when they came. Instead, Nigel leading a group of volunteers rode back towards Kent and in an hour long battle with PDF troops managed to drive the PDF out of Kent. Chasing and harassing them all the way down the road back into the English Free State where the Commonwealth Army sheltered them. From that point onwards Nigel led the resistance to Protectorate rule, being elected President of the new Republic of Kent-Upinton he quickly earned the nickname; The Mexican Prince for his actions taken against the PDF. Three years later he would marry Susan and would settle on a large ranch outside of Kent where they would live with their six children and their butler: Horace. Equipment *'Double Rifle: '''This powerful shooting Iron, Nigel himself bought from a crafty arms merchant that he had run into while on how way through Arizona. The rifle was hand made, the merchant had said every inch of it had been painstakingly molded by a skilled gunsmith somewhere in California. The wood of the stock was even supposedly cut from the massive sequoias that populated Northern California. Nigel after inspecting the weapon for a few minutes simply couldn't put the weapon down and offered to buy it. He had to shell out 400 caps for the damned thing but he has yet to regret that fact. *'Webley Revolver: '''The revolver is a relic from his time with the Provisional Defense Force. He kept the side arm against regulations, but he refuses to return it due to its apparent 'luck' factor. Personality He has the personality of a kind old grandfather. Despite his imposing appearance and stone-like face he can actually be rather personable and friendly to those he meets. Growing up he was taught by his father how to fear God and to never be afraid of a little back breaking labor, his father was like many men in the Protectorate a God fearing Calvinist who spent most of his day either working his ass off or down on bended knee praying to his lord. His mother however wasn't exactly the same. While his father was a strict disciplinarian his mother was a sweet and kind hearted woman who taught Nigel how to sow a field of crops, how to take care of farm animals and most of all how to have a sense of humanity and morality. Despite their two very opposite parenting styles, they both cared for Nigel and tried to pass on all their knowledge to him as best they could. So one can imagine their suprise when Nigel returned home from his service with the PDF, no longer the kind, God fearing son they had sent off and instead a jaded, emotionally bankrupt man who had seen the elephant and had been changed by it. Nigel's time with the PDF had warped him both mentally and emotionally as he became cold and reserved. His parents pleaded with him to get married but he would have none of it, unable to take his life at home he left to fight with the Baja Killers only to returned even more emotionally distant then he had been before. It was not until he had joined up with the party of settlers headed west that he truly began to regain some sembalance of humanity. At a young age of thirty he took care of the party of settlers, leading them as best as he could, protecting them from the wildlife and teaching them what he had learned. Thus this brings us up to present day, he cares for those around him and has the appearance of an elderly man, but do not underestimate Nigel. He's a tough son of a bitch and more than one would be cattle rustler, robber and bandit had learned that lesson the hard way. Appearance Nigel is a tall, imposing person. Wrinkles cover him along with a white beard. as for clothing he really will wear whatever is handy at the moment, unlike other Ganadero farmers and ranchers he doesn't give in to the whole aristocrat style. He dresses very much like the common man and tends to look the part as well. Quotes By About Category:Characters Category:Tamaulipas